Woodpecker watch: Birders to identify roosts

The Texas Forest Service is searching for a few good birders to help with their “roost check” at Jones State Forest.

From now-until mid-March, volunteers are needed to help identify trees with cavities in their trunks that are inhabited by the red-cockaded woodpecker.

The checks will help determine populations of the endangered species. Annually, 20,000 people visit the forest to catch sight of the red-cockaded woodpecker. With only an estimated 10,000 to 14,000 of the woodpeckers thought to still exist in the wild, about 70 of the reside in 15 clusters spread out around the forest.

For more information, contact John Warner, the urban district forester at the Texas Forest Service office located at 1328 FM 1488, at 936-273-2261.